Lack of clean water poses extra threat to Nigeria, others facing famine – UN

Famine prone countries like Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen without access to safe water are prone to other diseases as deadly as malnourishment, according to UN children’s agency.

“Nearly 27 million people in countries facing famine – Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen – do not have access to safe water, which can be as deadly to severely malnourished children as a lack of food, the UN children’s agency said on Wednesday,” says the report.

Some analysts say last night that the combination of malnutrition, dirty water and poor sanitation could lead to a vicious cycle of poverty and with the attendant diseases from which many people including children hardly recover.

Nigerians are constantly being exposed to danger, as potable water remains a scarce product in many parts of the country, with millions drinking from sources with high risk of contamination, such as boreholes, wells and broken pipes.

The report notes that more than 20 million people, a number greater than the population of Romania or Florida – risk dying from starvation within six months in the four countries due to conflict and climate change, the UN said last month.

Lack of public water supply in Nigeria, for instance, has led to the growth of many bottled water firms, with the market hitting N938.6 billion.

“The hot weather and poor availability of pipe-borne water in Nigeria leads to strong demand for bottled water, and this continued in 2016, despite a strong rise in unit prices caused by the higher production costs, largely due to depreciation of the local currency,” notes a March 2017 report released by Euromonitor International.

The UN report is coming on the heels of recent introduction of N4,800 monthly water rate for each flat by the Lagos State Water Corporation. This is even as the quality of water continues to deteriorate, both in the state and others including tertiary and secondary institutions.

Mismanagement of the public water system has compounded the problem, leading to warnings of a looming water crisis in Nigeria, especially in Lagos.

Over 63 million Nigerians have no choice but to get water from wherever they can, while 57 million Nigerians do not have access to safe water, according to Wateraid.

Many Nigerians in Birning Gaye in Bauchi State; Abaji in Abuja; many parts of Ebonyi, and northern Nigeria do not have access to clean water, as their major source is either dirty flowing or still water.

The water needs of Lagos are put at over 700 million gallons per day. The state has capacity of a little over 200 million gallons per day, but actually produces and distributes between 145 AND 150 million gallons each day from its facilities, leaving a huge gap of over 500 million gallons.

UNICEF said water shortages, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene posed additional risks to malnourished children in the four countries and could lead to fatal diarrhoeal diseases.

“… unsafe water can cause malnutrition or make it worse, no matter how much food a malnourished child eats, he or she will not get better if the water they are drinking is not safe,” Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF director of emergency programmes, said.

“The combination of malnutrition, dirty water and poor sanitation sets off a vicious cycle from which many children never recover,” Fontaine said in a statement.

In northeast Nigeria, where millions of people have fled an insurgency by Boko Haram militants, 75 percent of water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged on destroyed, leaving 3.8 million people without access to safe water, UNICEF said.

In Somalia, which has been hit by the worst drought in 20 years, many water sources have dried up or were contaminated, leaving about a third of the population without access to water, sanitation and hygiene, it said.

UNICEF said conflict had left 5 million people in South Sudan and at least 14.5 million people in Yemen with no access to safe water, basic sanitation and hygiene.

“We are working around the clock to save as many lives as we can as fast as we can,” Fontaine said.

“But without an end to the conflicts plaguing these countries, without sustainable and unimpeded access to the children in need of support and without more resources, even our best efforts will not be enough.”

Last month, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said more than $4 billion was needed by the end of March to respond to the emergency, which had resulted in nearly 500,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.